Sughd Province youth resist extremist recruitment, official says

KHUJAND, Tajikistan -- Authorities in Sughd Province, Tajikistan, are seeing a decline in youths' interest in extremism, Sharif Nazarzoda, the provincial police chief, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) in an interview published July 28.

Several reasons account for that welcome downturn, he said, adding that in the first half of 2016, police in Sughd arrested 130 extremists, including leaders and rank-and-file members.

Provincial authorities are doing other things, he said, such as working with civil society and parents to identify at-risk youths and to work with them, persuading families to bring back youths who are studying in dubious foreign seminaries, holding outreach conferences, and encouraging former militants to speak at such meetings.

Moreover, the growing list of terrorist atrocities around the world is turning the public against extremism, he said.